Door control mechanism



March 3, 1936; J. M. HUNTER 2,032,803

DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 22, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L7 Bmaentor Gttorneg March 3, 193.6. J. M. HUNTER DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM Filed June 22, 1954 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lrmentor` Gttorneg Patented Mar. 3, 1936 UNITED STATES DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM PAT E John M. Hunter, Cumberland, Ohio Application June 22, 1934, Serial No. 731,935

9 Claims.

This inventionl relates to door control mechanism for; swinging doors of garages ,and the like operating to cause a pair of doors to open and close in unison.

5.-k The .principal object of this invention is to provide an improved door control which will permitathe doors to simultaneously swing through practically one hundred. eighty degrees from their closed positions rto full open positions, while 10V retaining at all positions a proper controlling leverage so that moving one door in either direction will correspondingly move the other door.

Another object of this invention is to arrange the connecting linkage in such a manner as to obtain a more direct pull or push of a link actuated by one door on the corresponding link of the other door at the times in the opening and closing cycles of the doors of the maximum forces and resistances, so as to reduce to a minimum the cramping or binding action of the links on.each other and on the guiding means. Other objects are to couple the doors so that the force of 4across windY tending to close one of the doors afar will be counteracted by the opening force eX- erted on the other door; to provide a simple, cheap and easily installed construction that will operate efficiently and that requires little or no attention to maintain it in proper operating 3,0 conditions;` and to arrangeV the parts so that a single-.standardized construction may be adapted to iit the great majorityof swinging door garage constructions. Other objects will be apparent from the following detailed description of the 35g preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l-is a topplan view of the doors and connecting mechanism as applied to a conventional garage, the roof of the garage being re- Mlmoved, and the doors being shown closed in full lines and partially opened in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the doors fully opened.

Figure 3 is a section -taken on the line 3-3 of 451' Figure 2.

Figure 4' is a view taken on thevliner44 of Figure l.

Figure 5A isa detail view takenl on the line 5-5 off Figure 2; 50' Figure 6 is a topplan view of the structure shown in Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, the garage doors 5i and 6 areV hingedat 1 and 8, respectively, to the opposite sides of thev front wall 9 of the 55*- garage. A header or cross frame member is positioned ordinarily above the door opening and behind thefront wall 9, such a header being indicated at I0. In a single garage, as illustrated, the side walls are normally positioned but 60 a short distance laterally from the edges of the are arranged substantially as illustrated, and the 10 present invention is designed to be constructed in one form capable of being installed, with minor adjustments during the installation, in any garage of this type. It will be understood,

however, that in its broader aspects the present invention is not limited to any specic type of garage construction, but is adaptable, with suitable mechanical variations, to any swinging door arrangement.

In the embodiment illustrated, a suitable guide member M, which may be a tube or the like, has one end secured to the header I0 centrally of the door opening, and its opposite end securedV in any suitable way to the cross member I3, or in the absence of such a cross member, to a` supporting bracket or the like. A short tubular member ihaving oppositely disposed apertured ears I5 slidably fits over the guiding tube I4, Av pair of intermediate links I6 are pivotally v mounted on the side walls IIy and I2 of the 30 garage in any convenient way, as by having their. ends turned downwardly, as shown at II, and fitting in vertical sockets I6 formed in plates I9. secured to the side walls.

'I'he opposite end of each of the links I 6 is 35. formed to pivo'tally connect with two other links. As illustrated, the free end of each link I6 is turned upwardly and pivotally ts in a socket y20 formed in a saddle 2I which is formed with a U- shaped portion straddling the link I6 and is 4()A further provided with oppositely projecting apertured ears 22. A pair of links 23 connect the free ends of the links I6 with the tubular sliding member I5. To' facilitate the construction and installation of the device, each link 23 has its ends 45 turned downwardly so that one end may be dropped into the aperture in one of the ears I5', and the other end may be dropped into the aperture in the adjacent ear 22.

A link 24 pivotally connects the free end of 50 each of the links I6 with the adjacent do'or. Preferably, each link 24 is also formed with down turned ends, one of which drops into the aperture in the other of the ears 22, and the other of which drops into an aperture in a bracket 25 secured to 55 the adjacent door at about its center. Each bracket 25 may be conveniently made from a strip of angle iron with one leg-secured to the door and the other disposed horizontally and formed with a series of apertures to permit adjustment o'f the point of connection of the links 24 with the doors.

With the device installed and assuming the doors are in closed position as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 1, it is evident that a pull upon either one of the doors will cause it to swing open. The link 24 connected to this door will pull and correspondingly swing the connected' link I6, which inY turn pulls the link 23 and slides the tubular sliding member I5 forwardly, causing exactly similar and simultaneous movement of the remainder of the linkagel and the other door. Likewise, the two doors are positively con- Vnected td move simultaneously in closing, it being necessary to manually manipulate but one of the doors to effect either opening or closing of both doors. Y

. It will also be apparent that the connection of n the do'ors with the intermediate links I6 through the links 24 permits the doors to be swung through almost one hundred eighty degrees from their closed positions, the free ends of the links I6 being pulled out through the door opening during this action as illustrated in Figure 2 td prevent the links 24 fromfouling on the inner edges of the doors. This construction also acts to straighten the pull or push of the links 23 on the sliding member I5, since the angular relation of these links is at all times less than the angle formed by lines extending fro'm the points of connection of thelinks 24 with the doors to the ears I5'. In this way any tendency of the parts to cramp or bind is greatly reduced or eliminated and consequently the parts can be made with greater tolerances and the life of the device is increased and the friction and wear greatly decreased. 'I'hese advantages are present as well in Yconnection with doors that need to be opened through but ninety degrees as with doors which it is necessary or desirable to be able to open through one hundred eighty degrees. It will also be apparent that when the doors are opened a cross wind tending to blo'w one of the doors shut will be counteracted by force of the wind striking the other door and tending to blow it open. Y

Whilea speci'c embodiment of the invention has been illustrated. and described, it is tdbe understood that many modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be resorted to with-A out departing from the scope andspirit ofthe yinvention as dened in the following claims.

I claim: Y

1. In'combination, a pair of oppositely swinging doors, a swinging member associated with each door and connected therewith to swing in the same direction as, but at a different rate than, the door to which'it isrconnected, and means coupling said swinging members to cause the same td swing simultaneously and in opposite directions. Y 2. In combination with a building structure having a pair of oppositely swinging doors, a pair of oppositely swinging members pivotally mounted on the side walls of said building structure, hinges connecting each of said doors to the building structure, means'connecting each of said members to one of said doors, and means connecting said swinging members together for simultaneous movement.

3. In combination with a building structure having a pair of oppositely swinging doors, a pair of oppositely swinging members pivotally mounted on said building structure, means connecting each of said members to one of said doors to swing therewith, a pair of articulated links one link being connected to each of said swinging members, and means for guiding said links to causeI said swinging members to move in unison.

4. In combination with a building structure having a pair of oppositely swinging doors, a pair of oppositely'swinging members pivotally mounted on said building structure, a link connecting each of said members to one of said doors toswing therewith, a pair of articulated links, one link being connected to each of said swinging members, and means for guiding said links to ca use said swinging members to move 'in' unison.

5. In combination'with a building structure having a pair of oppositely swinging pivotal doors, a pair of oppositely swinging members pivotally mounted on said building structure, a link connecting each of said members to one of said doors with a shorter distance between its connection to the door and the pivot thereof than between its connection to said member and 'its pivot, and means connecting said swinging mem'- bers to cause the same to move in unison. 6. In combination with a building structure having a pair of oppositely swinging doors, a pair of oppositely swinging members pivotally mounted on said building structure, a linkcon-n necting each of said members to one of said doors to swing therewith, each of said links being'pivoted to one of said members at one end and pivoted to one of said doors at the other end, and means connecting said swinging members to cause the same to move in unison.

7. In combination with a building structure said doors with a shorter distance between itsy connection to the door and the pivot thereof than between its connection to said member and the pivot thereof, a pair of articulated links, one link being connected to each of said swinging members, and means for guiding said links to Vcause said swinging members to move in unison.

8. In combination with a building structure having a pair of'oppositely swinging doors, a pair of oppositely swinging members pivotally mounted on said building structure, a link connecting each of said members to one of said doors to swing therewith, a guide rod xed to said building structure and disposed perpendicular to said doors when closed, a connector slidably mounted on said guide rod and a pair of links pivoted to said connector, each of said links being pivoted to one of said members.

9. A device for causing a pair of oppositely swinging doors to swing in unison comprising a pair of jointed members pivotally connected together at one end,the free end of one o1 said jointed members being adapted to be connected to one of said doors and the free end of the other of said jointed members being adapted to be connected to the other of said doors, and means adapted to be secured to a building structure to guide the joints of said jointed members through predetermined paths during swinging movement of said doors.

JOHN M. HUNTER. 

